Vision

WE BELIEVE that an equitable and resilient local economy requires closing Boston's growing wealth divide by PROMOTING INCLUSIVE ENTREPRENEURSHIP and CREATING SUSTAINABLE EMPLOYMENT, with a focus on people who have been impacted by racial, social, and economic inequality.

Jen Faigel is a co-founder of the former CropCircle Kitchen, now CommonWealth Kitchen, and stepped in as Executive Director in 2014. Jen is responsible
for setting organizational strategy, raising funds, wrangling staff and businesses, developing and managing strategic partnerships, and generally managing
the chaos. Jen's background is in real estate and community economic development. She was the lead real estate consultant for the $15 million Pearl
project, which is now home to CWK's flagship kitchen operation. In her career, Jen has developed more than 400 affordable homes and over 225,000 SF
of commercial real estate - worth over $200m - as a means to create jobs and economic opportunity. Her motto in life is- "If you can't ride two horse
at the same time, then you shouldn't be in the circus!" Jen's all-time favorite food is white clam pizza from Pepe's in New Haven.

Jill Griffin

Board Chair

Jill is Director of Workforce, Supplier, and Diversity Development at the Commonwealth’s Gaming Commission. Jill is the former Director of Economic Development Programs at The Boston Foundation. Previously, Jill worked for more than a decade in Boston Mayor Menino’s administration, including as Assistant Director of Economic Initiatives.

Lori Smith Britton

Board Member

With more than two decades of development and non-profit management experience, Lori Smith Britton is a leader in the field, having leveraged millions in critical resources for several of Boston’s most prestigious charities over the course of her career. She is the Founder and Principal of Community Resource Consulting, LLC – a consulting practice dedicated to serving Boston area non-profits, providing strategic counsel and tactile fundraising support for a variety of clients. Currently, she is leading Epiphany School’s effort to ensure the completion of the school’s $25 million Starting Younger, Growing Stronger campaign as well as supporting the design and implementation of strategies to grow ongoing annual support from the local business community, private philanthropists and foundations with a national footprint to sustain Epiphany’s next phase of growth. Lori, a native of Boston Massachusetts and a graduate of Boston Latin School, holds a Bachelor’s Degree from Syracuse University and a Master’s Degree in Urban Affairs from Boston University. She lives in Dorchester with her husband and two teenage daughters.

Nathaniel Brooks

Director of Finance and Business Operations

Nathaniel oversees the internal business systems that keep CommonWealth Kitchen running at top speed. A self-professed 'numbers guy' he enjoys keeping the financial ship in trim, forecasting, and the occasional overextended metaphor. Nathaniel has a background in engineering and management consulting, but has also spent time working in international development and on a small farm. In 2015 he launched and ran VT Dinners, a locally-sourced frozen meals business, so he knows exactly what the culinary entrepreneurs here at CommonWealth Kitchen are going through.

Nathaniel holds an MBA in managing for sustainability from the Marlboro College Graduate School. His all-time favorite food is sun-warm strawberries, but Jamaican Mi Hungry's jerk chicken is a close second.

Biplaw Rai

Board Member

A food industry entrepreneur and community organizer, Biplaw brings his business savvy to issues of social justice and empowerment. He grew up in Nepal, graduated from Truman State University, and earned his MBA at Hamline University. A longtime citizen of Boston, he is co-owner/operator of Dudley Cafe in Roxbury and serves as a Trustee for the Grove Hall Trust in Dorchester. He is especially passionate about food sovereignty and sustainability. Always finding the light in dark situations, Biplaw has a powerful conviction that every community is gifted with the talent and resources needed to improve life for everyone.

Biplaw has a B.A in political science from Truman State University and a Masters in Business Administration with specialization in Negotiation and Conflict Management from Hamline University. He is also a member of Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity Inc. Biplaw speaks three languages- English, Nepali, and Hindi.

He resides in Dorchester, MA with his fiance Nyacko and their two furry friends: Moxie and MoMo.

Brad Stevens

Executive Chef & Director of Kitchen Operations

Brad oversees culinary operations at both Dorchester and Jamaica Plain, as well as culinary and business technical assistance. And chief dishwasher. Brad
spent a decade running Community Servings’ kitchen. Previously, Brad worked for almost 30 years in fine dining, including over a decade as Executive
Chef for Todd English.

Brad joined CCK in 2013 as a consultant to advise on the design and operations for the Pearl facility and the CCK kitchens. He was hired in 2014 to run
all day-to-day operations of both the Jamaica Plain and Dorchester facilities. Brad is responsible for ensuring all business operations are conducted
in accordance with all applicable codes and regulations. He provides technical assistance to businesses on recipe development, scaling, packaging,
and LEAN manufacturing. He also manages CCK’s commissary operations.

Prior to joining CCK, Brad spent 7+ years running Community Servings’ kitchen operation, which provides over 9,000 scratch-made meals each week to 900+
home-bound people suffering from an acute, life-threatening illness. Brad supervised a staff of 20+ professional chefs, trainees and volunteers. Previously,
Brad worked for 25+ years in fine dining, including over a decade as Executive Chef for Todd English in his Figs, Olives, and other restaurants.

Brad loves local food but really do miss wild ramps from West Virginia, eggs & white truffles from Italy and Extra virgin oil from Liguria.

Chris Mables

Prep Cook

Chris joined CWK in April 2015. He is an urban farmer in Dorchester and loves growing various veggies. In the CWK commissary kitchen is where you can find Chris prepping ghost peppers for salsas, Chris is a carnivore at heart and loves beef but he can’t resist Beet Poet Juice from Jubali Juice.

Heather Yunger

Prep Cook

Heather is one tough cookie. She is the owner /baker
of Top Shelf Cookie Co. Heather is a mixologist she can put together all sorts of awesome cookie
combinations like her award winning PB Toffee, her signature Black & Gold
or her Summer Ale made with Sam Adams Beer. In her spare time Heather can be found taking on various
roles at CWK. More recently she assists in the commissary kitchen with the
Smart Lunch team.

Irene Li

Board Member

IreneLi co-owns and operates the Boston-based food truck, restaurant and shipping container enterprise collectively known as theMei MeiGroup. Founded with her two older siblings, their award-winning food businesses merge modern techniques and genre-bending creativity with sustainable practices and tech-savvy communications. Irene’s background of living on an organic farm, working the restaurant line, and organizing for social justice inform her leadership of the food and sourcing elements of the company. She recently graduated from Cornell University with a BA in Food Systems and Cultural Studies, received two James Beard Rising Star nominations and an Eater National Young Gun award.

La'ah McFayden

Production Crew Member

Lanique McFayden, a Mattapan native, was driving down Quincy Street with her grandma when she first saw CWK. She still remembers her excitement: "Nana, is that a kitchen?!" Two weeks later she started as a prep cook with CWK member business The Dining Car. After completing a culinary job training program at the Kroc Center, La'ah (as she's known to friends) landed a job at Boston College, complete with chef's coat and toque. But she didn't find the same community she had at CWK, soon returned to The Dining Car, and has now joined CWK's manufacturing team. La'ah is leading an evening shift, where she enjoys being "one of the elves" that magically prep and process when nobody else is around. She loves all kinds of food, but her favorite prepared at CWK is The Dining Car's roasted lamb.

Sherina Hendrix

Operations & Business Manager

Sherina is a local Dorchester resident that was brought onto the management staff in 2015 to help with the day to day management of CWK which includes bookkeeping, payroll, grants management and marketing services just to name a few. She served on the Board of Directors of Dorchester Bay EDC for the past 10 years and chaired the Small Business Loan Committeereviewing small business loan applications. Previously, Sherina provided a similar role at YouthBuild USA and Interise. Her favorite taste at CWK is the Jerk Pork from Fort Hill Jerk and the toasted coconut ice cream from Minus the Moo.

Colin Roy

Sous-Chef & Kitchen Manager

Colin Roy was hired in May 2014 to assist with the opening and operation of the Pearl facility in Dorchester. Colin assists Brad in managing all daily
operations of all of CWK’s kitchen facilities. He also manages business scheduling to ensure efficient use of kitchens, provides regular one-on-one
support, and coordinates all of the food truck operations.

Prior to joining the CWK team, Colin had spent 3 years working for a food truck that operated out of CWK’s Jamaica Plain facility. He brings tremendous
experience and first-hand knowledge of working in a shared kitchen. Previously, Colin had experience in a wide range of food businesses, from country
club to restaurant and has a degree in culinary arts.

Dinora Andrade

Prep Cook

Dinora came to the US from Fogo, Cape Verde in 2012. She warms the kitchen every morning as she preps for SmartLunches with CWK. When Dinora gets home from work, she makes incredible Cape Verdean food, including the best dessert: pudim, made from milk and caramelized sugar.

Meg Tallon

Board Clerk

Meg Tallon is the Director of Community Outreach for East Boston YMCA’s Teaching Kitchen, where she facilitated the creation and permitting of the kitchen, launched programming for all ages and created the Urban Farm to Kitchen program. Tallon’s expertise as a chef and gardener give her special insight into how to teach people to put fresh and healthy food on the table in their everyday life. A graduate of the Cambridge School in Culinary Arts, Tallon has worked as a chef and baker and taught business and cooking classes. She joined the board of CommonWealthKitchen in 2014, previously she assisted with the opening of the new CWK Pearl shared used kitchen commissary and culinary business incubator.

Roz Freeman

Entrepreneurship Program Manager

Roz is the first person you’ll see when you contact CWK as an entrepreneur. She helps entrepreneurs get their businesses up and running with CWK, organizes
our events and educational programs, and develops and manages our partnerships with job training programs and business planning organizations. She loves saying
yes, which sometimes gets her into trouble, but also means she does all the random things you wouldn’t think of, from coordinating labels for our farmer value-added program, to hand-painting signs for our events. Roz has a background in sustainable agriculture and ecology research.

Victoria Maguire

Board Vice Chair

Victoria Maguire is Senior Vice President for Real Estate Operations at the Massachusetts Development Finance Agency (MassDevelopment). MassDevelopment is Massachusetts’ economic development and finance agency and works with businesses, nonprofits, financial institutions, and communities to stimulate economic growth across the Commonwealth. In this role, Victoria oversees a wide variety of real estate and land use focused programs including the Commonwealth Places Program, the industrial property focused Site Readiness Program, large-scale state property redevelopment and technical assistance services for cities and towns.

Victoria previously served as the Massachusetts State Director for LOCUS, a national organization that works with real estate developers and investors to advocate for federal, state and local policies that promote walkable, mixed-use, mixed-income projects. Victoria has over 10 years of public sector experience working with Massachusetts’ local and state elected officials to promote sustainable land use policies and economic development projects. She served as Director of Policy for Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick and also served as the State Permit Ombudsman and Director of the Permit Regulatory Office in the MA Executive Office of Housing and Economic Development where she worked to promote greater government transparently and efficiency.

Victoria received her Masters in Public Affairs at the University of Massachusetts Boston and a Masters in Regional and Urban Planning Studies at the London School of Economics. She currently serves on the board of the West Roxbury Main Streets Program and as vice president of the Commonwealth Kitchen Board of Directors.

Adam Scipione

Commissary program manager

Adam is the Commissary program manager, scheduling and planning with commissary clients and commissary staff, and making sure that production reports are clearly communicated. Adam started working at CommonWealth Kitchen in October 2016. Before then, he worked for the Cambridge Innovation Center helping manage their break room kitchen program. He loves getting a glimpse into the entrepreneurs' life and learning the nitty-gritty details about food manufacturing.

Michael Hayhurst

Assistant Commissary manager

Mike started as a full time member of CWK April 2017. He works in our commissary kitchen doing contract production for food companies, many who have graduated from our shared kitchen program. Mike likes that CWK offers entrepreneurs a place to start, and that CWK invests in the community and hires from the neighborhood.

In his free time, Mike likes drinking home brew beer that he makes himself at home, hiking and traveling.

Seth Morrison

Commissary Manager

If you google Seth you will find a number of amazing articles about his time as the Chef/Owner of The Gallows in South End and rave reviews of his work at Vee Vee in JP, his recipe for Snappy Lobster in The Boston Homegrown Cookbook:Local Food, Local Restaurants, Local Recipes (Homegrown Cookbooks) and many more. Chef Seth, is an experienced culinary professional that has been working in Boston for over 15 years. His long-lasting relationships with local farmers, fish mongers, specialty food providers, and distributors enables him to get some of the best quality items, as well as the best of what's in season. Today besides helping manage CWK commissary contracts Seth's latest venture is Farm and Feast Tours which will bring customers on "tasting trips" to specialty farms in the area.

Jhadley Sanchez

Administrative Associate

Jhadley joined CommonWealth Kitchen November of 2016. Jhadley manages events, updates the website and supports the CWK staff in many other ways. She is currently a student at Northeastern University majoring in civil engineering. Before CommonWealth Kitchen, Jhadley volunteered at Hyde Square Task Force.

Jhadley enjoys singing and anytime during the day you will find her in a conference room in our facilities providing everyone with the latest pop hits. Jhadley loves feeling useful and feels very fortunate to be part of CommonWealth.

Erick Albino

Maintenance

Erick joined CommonWealth Kitchen in the summer of 2015, when he was fourteen. He maintains the integrity and quality of the kitchens and the entire facility. Erick is a student at the John D. O'Bryant highschool. Erick enjoys watching the food businesses grow and seeing entrepreneurs incorporate local food into their operations.

He cares about preventing climate change and believes people should take it more seriously. In his free time, Erick likes going out to taste the food from CWK's food trucks, and reading articles from reputable news sources.

Martha Matías

Prep Cook

Martha began working at CWK summer of 2016. She is in charge of the kitchen prep work in the commissary kitchen. Martha is a key part of setting up our larger scale equipment and getting things moving and operating smoothly, from our automatic filler, to the dough depositor. You'll often see Martha peering over the edge of a giant kettle, making sure that everything is operating properly. She likes everything about CommonWealth kitchen and likes being part of the family.

Irving Domenech

Maintenance manager

Irving is a Puerto Rico native and Roxbury resident. He considers himself a handy man and self-taught home cook that can step into any role at the kitchen. He is a great prep cook with amazing knife skills and can prepare authentic Puerto Rican cuisines.

Ronald Monroe

Prep Cook

Ronald came to CommonWealth Kitchen through the Urban Farming Institute. At CWK you can find him pitching in wherever he can. One day he may be roasting bananas for Batch Ice Cream, and the next day he may be prepping ghost peppers for salsa or making garlic scape pesto for a local farmer. Ronald loves the Jerk Chicken from Fresh Food Generation and solving riddles.